Homecoming queen breaks mold, fosters community

What started out as a playful joke soon became reality when the banners were rolled out during lunches announcing that senior Stacy Saldana had been nominated to the 2019 Homecoming Court.

“At first it was just a few friends who said they had nominated me for court,” Saldana said. “When I walked into my 4th hour class, a guy came up to me and told me a whole lunch table had voted for me, then another lunch table. I was very excited.”

The school year had just started when the homecoming festivities began. Saldana and the other seniors of the court came together to create the annual Homecoming court video to share humor and to persuade students to vote for them.

Coronation on Tuesday, Sept. 17th, Stacy rocked the aisle with her partner, Quinton Moller, in a stylish black and white romper. It was something new from the standard long dresses every year.

“I knew I wanted to be comfortable, I tried on some dresses but I just wasn’t sold on them, Saldana said. “When I got the romper I knew this was the one.”

Saldana said she was happy to stand out from the crowd and let other future nominees know it’s okay to be different.

After vocal and musical performances by students, the time came to reveal the 2019 homecoming king and queen.

“When I opened the envelope, I’m pretty sure I saw gold. I didn’t really know what to do so I just held it up and people started cheering. It was pretty overwhelming, in a good way,” Saldana said.

She said she hopes to inspire future nominated students with her Mexican heritage.

“LNHS doesn’t have many hispanic students but with the few that there are, we become a community.”